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Saturday, May 2, 2015

Pathfinder Faction: Technic League

I'm currently running a "backwards" version of the Pathfinder adventure path Iron Gods in
which the PCs are members of faction within the Technic League (more on
that later). As far as I can tell there's no official writeup of the
league as a faction so I needed to create my own. Note the following
writeup uses "Fame" for TPA and "Prestige" for CPA (which seems easier
for players and is what Hero Lab uses; I'm not sure where this newer notation originally comes from), otherwise it's the same format as the Faction Guide

Technic League

The Technic
League is a cabal of arcanists whose chief goal is the acquisition of personal
and temporal power through the exploitation of magic and recovered alien technology.
The Black Sovereign may be the ruler of Numeria, but the Technic League is the
power behind the throne.

Goal: Control Technology

Many, albeit not all, powerful forms
of magic are specific to those who are versed in its nature, but technology requires
only energy and operational instructions—a bitter pill for any mage to swallow.
Thus the League is concerned with technology’s potential to displace the power
granted by magic. Rather than despise and suppress it, they seek to possess and
control it.

Alignment: CE

The Technic
League is anarchistic organization of power hungry arcanists that has strayed
far from its original purpose. They have become selfish hoarders of technology,
manipulative slavers, and allies of dark powers.

Leader:

While the
leaders of the Technic League are referred to as captains, any illusion of military
precision stops at the surface. The small council of captains is a squabbling
and chaotic group, its members working together one minute and assassinating
each other the next. All captains are technically equal in rank, yet one
captain usually manages to rise to a position of leadership through brute force
and intrigue, helping to organize and direct the other captains and acting as
the primary liaison to the Black Sovereign.The current leader of the Technic League is Ozmyn Zaidow (CE male human magus 14).

Good Class Choices:

Alchemist, Arcanist,
Magus, Sorcerer, Wizard

Challenging Class Choices:

Barbarian, Fighter, Monk

Headquarters:

The Technic League is based in
Starfall, which is the closest city to Silver Mount and reasonably close to the
northern Felldales (where a wealth of unrecovered technology awaits those who
brave its dangers). Starfall is also home to the gearsmen (Pathfinder Campaign
Setting: Inner Sea Bestiary 44), a small army of mysterious humanoid robots
from Silver Mount that protect Starfall and enforce the Technic League’s
orders—most of the time. The League’s authority doesn’t end at Starfall, however,
as they maintain some presence in every city and large town in Numeria.

Joining:

Membership
is generally restricted to those who
wield arcane magic, but it’s not impossible for a divine caster of a compatible
faith to be accepted. Initiates are sponsored by a captain. The organization is
paranoid (though disorganized) about spies an infiltrators and tries to vet new
initiates. Until an initiate has "gotten their hands dirty" they are
restricted from access to technology and are not inducted into the mysteries of
Silver Mount.

Gaining Prestige:

Members gain
prestige by recovering (or crafting) technological items, uncovering information
about the ruined spacecraft, or preventing technology or technological
knowledge from leaving the League's control. In addition to prestige gained
from completing missions and furthering the League's goals, members gain 1 PA
every time they gain a level of Technomancer.

Resources:

TheTechnic League
controls access to Silver Mount and many other technological sites in Numeria.
They disseminate technology and technological knowledge among their membership.
Members are not supposed to withhold technological secrets from one another,
but in fact, that practice is all too common. As an organization of arcanists
they have considerable traditional spell knowledge, which they guard much less
than other magical organizations.

1 Prestige:
Transcribe a common spell (any spell listed in the Pathfinder RPG Core
Rulebook, or any spell the GM feels is common in the world) from another member
into a wizard’s spellbook or alchemist’s formula book. This benefit does not require
a Spellcraft check or any additional transcribing costs.3 Fame:Inducted
into the mysteries of Silver Mount and become eligible to take the Technologist
Feat. Purchase technological items from the league at 10% discount.3 Fame, 1 Prestige: Become familiar with a non-technological uncommon or rare spell (at the
GM’s discretion) from the school’s library, allowing a bard, sorcerer, or
similar spellcaster to select it as a spell known at the next available
opportunity (this benefit allows such a caster to gain access to bard or
sorcerer spells from sources other than the Pathfinder RPG Core Rulebook
without having to do spell research or find a copy of the spell while
adventuring).3 Fame, 1 Prestige:Get four charged batteries with 10 charges each.3 Fame, 1 Prestige:Learn Androffan as a bonus language.3 Fame. 1 Prestige: Acquire an Arachnid Robot (Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars p. 56)
as a personal pet.3 Fame, 2 Prestige:Acquire one dose of Numerian fluids.5 Fame:Gain a
+2 to all skill rolls to use, research or interact with technology while at
Technic League offices or labs. This takes an hour to get the appropriate
materials or speak with the necessary experts. This does not stack with the +4
bonus listed on page 55 of the Faction Guide.5 Fame, 1 Prestige:Become familiar with a technological spell (at the GM’s discretion) from another
member, allowing a bard, sorcerer, or similar spellcaster to select it as a
spell known at the next available opportunity (this benefit allows such a
caster to gain access to bard or sorcerer spells from the Technology Guide without
having to do spell research or find a copy of the spell while adventuring).10 Fame, 2 Prestige:Acquire the services of a League hireling (Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars
p. 61 or a Rogue of half the character's level) for 1 week.10 Fame, 2 Prestige: Transcribe a non-technological uncommon or rare spell (at the GM’s discretion)
from another member into a wizard’s spellbook or alchemist’s formula book. This
benefit does not require a Spellcraft check or any additional transcribing
costs.15 Fame, 2 Prestige:Transcribe a technology spell (at the GM’s discretion) from another
member into a wizard’s spellbook or alchemist’s formula book. This benefit does
not require a Spellcraft check or any additional transcribing costs.20 Fame, 2 Prestige: Acquire the use of five Mannequin Robots (Numeria, Land of Fallen Stars
p. 57) for 1 week.

20 Fame, 2Prestige:Acquire the use of a Gearsman Robot (Pathfinder
Campaign Setting: Inner SeaBestiary p. 44) as a personal bodyguard.

20 Fame, 10 Prestige:Gain the trust of one of the League's captains and the title of "commander", "lieutenant", "second",
"apprentice" or "assistant" as your patron prefers. Gain
access to most secure League facilities and sites except for Silver Mount
itself.50 Fame, 10 Prestige:Gain permanent control of a technological laboratory of any
type and a generator capable of charging it.50 Fame, 30 Prestige, must be a vacancy in the council: Become one of the League's captains
and join the council.

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